The "God Particle" Revisited

It seems that scientists at CERN and the LHC have discovered the "God" particle, or the Higgs Boson. This is a particle that was predicted decades ago but all attempts to find it have ended in failure, until now. I felt that it was just a matter of time until it would be discovered and that it would probably provide the "keystone" to the "standard model of physics" that is almost universally accepted today.

Perhaps now, we can begin to understand that the universe really is a finely tuned, intelligently designed, structure that would not exist at all if even a single particle or force were to be changed by even the smallest amount or strength. I also predict that there will be many "revelations" that will take place in the future of physics that will bring us even closer to an understanding of the true GOD, because of the discovery of this particle.

Because of the relevance of this discovery and the interest in what the "Higgs" particle is, I am re-posting an article that I wrote two years ago on this subject because we need to keep a perspective of where God is in this discussion, and why this doesn't in any way replace our belief in a "spiritual" God who is behind all of it.

Posted on CP on 2/12/2010

"What Is the God Particle All About?

I read recently that scientists at CERN, using the Large Hadron Collider, think they may soon have proof of the long sought for Higgs, or "God" particle. Scientists have been looking for the existence of this particle for decades, that has long been suspected to exist, but could not be detected. The Higgs particle is important to physicists because it is believed to be responsible for "mass". It is called the "God" particle because all that exists is dependent on it for mass. Without mass, matter in the universe would never have formed at the beginning of creation or have structure, because there would be no gravity, inertia, or energy. Einstein proved that mass and energy are equivalent with E=MC^2

It is interesting that it is called the "God" particle because science is usually atheistic in its outlook. For science to have a "God" of any kind seems to discredit all the attacks and allegations that have been thrown at people of religion for centuries. You might argue that the "Higgs" particle, known also as the "God" particle, is not really a "God", but then you have to explain what a God is.

Christians and other people of religion believe in an omnipotent God for everything that exists. Without God, according to the Bible, the universe would never have come into existence. Without God the planets would not orbit the sun. Without God, time would be meaningless and there would be no purpose to man's existence. It is well known and accepted by scientists that our belief in God is based on faith, not on laboratory experiments. God is something we all accept as being present in our lives but we cannot physically prove that He is around. We accept the way He interacts in our lives as proof enough of His existence.

Scientists believe that the Higgs particle is necessary for everything in the universe to exist. Without it the universe would never have come into existence. Without it the planets would not orbit the sun. Without it time would be meaningless and there would be no purpose or meaning to anything in the universe. Scientists have long accepted the existence of the Higgs (God) particle as being present in everything around us but cannot yet prove that it exists physically. The way matter behaves and interacts is proof enough of its existence. They accept its existence based on "faith" that it exists.

I hope you noticed the subtlety of the two above descriptions. What do they have in common? One thing. FAITH in the existence of something that is unseen and has not been proven.

Science is considered by most people to be anti-religion because most scientists never fail to seize an opportunity to attack people of religion as being superstitious and foolish for believing in something as intangible as a God. History has shown many reasons for believing in an omnipotent God from the way men and nations interact, and the records kept in the form of the Bible to record God's interaction with man. Yet scientists do exactly the same thing.

Very precise records are kept of laboratory experiments and the results, and conclusions and interpretations are made based on those experiments. Only in the last 25 years has science run into a wall in trying to explain the universe and everything in it. It seems that all of Quantum Mechanics, String Theory, The Big Bang, and all other eloquent theories of the structure of the universe have come to depend on the existence of one tiny object. The Higgs particle. They say it is present in all matter, controls the universe and even has control of time itself. Can they prove it exists? No, but they have faith that it does exist.

Am I the only one to see an element of hypocrisy here?

The Large Hadron Collider has been constructed in Europe by CERN specifically to try to prove the existence of the "God" particle. You might say that the LHC is a kind of "Temple to the God of Science". If there is any communication that takes place there between their machine and the Higgs particle it may prove the existence of their "God" but it does not diminish the importance of the "spiritual" God that we believe in and serve. It does serve to prove just how alike Christians and Scientists are when it comes to faith in their respective "religions".

Both are based on faith in the existence of an unseen force that controls the universe."